Encre, papier, ciseaux: Head Down in a Book

Inspiration: CAS Colours and Sketches #282 + ColourQ #15

I totally love the images from the Book Worm stamp set. This is totally me when I was a kid. I spent the first 18 years of my life (minus the years I couldn't read yet) with my head down in a book. I would read in the car during our long road trip (think the whole way from Quebec to Florida), at the restaurant and sometimes even when we were walking around when I was too excited about a new book and couldn't wait to start it. The amount of reading I did died down a little when I reached college. Not because I was out all of the time, but because I had so many mandatory books to read for my litterature classes (between 6 and 8 by trimester) that I needed a breather the rest of the time. In university, I again had a lot of reading for my classes, and I often used my transit time on the bus to do some of that reading. I remember one time sitting beside a guy that asked me why the heck I was reading a grammar book. Hahaha! Definitely for classes, and not as "fun, light reading!" Nowadays, I read about a dozen novels or so a year, which is not nearly as much as I once did, but I always have a pile of books on my nightstand, waiting to be read. I also still love to stop at bookstores once in a while to peruse through new books.

The sketch challenge was the starting point for this card, and I selected a past ColourQ combo as inspiration. Don't those colours look great together! There's something both soft and striking about that combo, and I think it could work for a baby theme or for a masculine theme as well. I tried to stay away from fluff as much a possible in order for this card to work for a gentleman. I has this idea to use the A to Z stamp to create a soft background on the Barely Banana cardstock and because I was using that colour, I just had to pull out the Gold Pearl embossing powder, which pairs tremendously well with this cardstock colour.

I was unsure what to add for the sentiment, so I decided to just go through stamp sets until inspiration struck. I found a few interesting options, but the one I liked the most was a little bigger than I would have liked. I still really liked how the idea tied with the theme, so I switched gears with my design to incorporate it in - and that's where the white banner comes in. The sentiment reads, "It's Your Birthday - Do what you please." And isn't curling up with a great book a great way to treat yourself on your special day?

Supplies
Stamps: Book Worm (Mama Elephant); A to Z, Fais ce qui te plaît (Let Your Hair Down - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: So Saffron, Going Grey, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Going Grey (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink); Tuxedo Black (Memento), VersaMark
Accessories: Banners Framelits, Subtles and Neutrals Candy Dots, White Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic);
Stitched Scallop Basic Edges Die-namics, Chevron Stripes Die-namics (My Favorite Things);
Book Worm Dies (Mama Elephant); Tangerine Cord (Lawn Fawn); Gold Pearl Embossing Powder (Ranger)